Saturday, April 5, 2014

My Pledge To Myself

The more I counted, the more I felt the shivers for all the
many illicit sex I had had. Curiosity and giving in to my bodily needs for sex
had seen me start to experiment with sex at age fourteen. By the time I was
done with junior high school, I could very well qualify for a really sexually
active teenage boy.

I went to an all boys senior high school and though my
sexual escapades reduced whenever school was in session, it shot up during
vacations. Condoms had always been my friend and I had no problem going to a
far away pharmacy just to get condoms.

In my second year in University, and for the first time, I
had sex without protection. That experience lingered on and I wanted more and
more of that. Eventually, condom use was discarded by the third or fourth time
I was having sex with a particular lady. I knew of sexually transmitted
diseases. I had heard of HIV but from where I chose to see things from, the
University community was free from such illness.

Admittedly I have been involved in some very risky sexual
activities. In all my
involvements, I had discarded the condom use along the line. I never bothered
to check for HIV nor any other illness because again, I felt they were alien to
the group I had such sexual activities with and I just didn’t have any symptoms
that could prompt me to go have a test done.

Eight years after my first degree and now with a Masters
Degree added, and not married, I used to constantly sit back and smile anytime
I heard of younger persons discussing their sexual exploits. Anytime I had a
new lady trying to tell me I knew next to nothing about sex, as I was a good
pretender, I smiled sheepishly at their comments. And felt happy that I was
very much passing my fake acting situations.

As for HIV, I never thought it would ever be necessary for
me to go get tested. I felt I would rather not know as we were all going to die
anyway. My knowledge of HIV was as good as the knowledge of most of the best
economics students in Ghanaian senior high schools. I knew the theories, and
all there were to know but I had somehow not applied them to myself until I got
intrigued by an HIV advocacy campaign on social media. I liked how the campaign
was growing steadily and got jolted into my present state of self awareness
when it became evident that condom use in Ghana is generally low amongst
persons of higher education and earning a lot more money. Also that such people
were having an increased case of new HIV infections.

My sleepless nights had begun! I could see truth in what was
being said as I recounted my days from when I had first had unprotected sex and
the numerous male friends who had said they did not use condoms either. One of
the messages of the campaign was that people should reduce their sexual
partners. The reason basically is that once one person had the virus, it will
be spread to the other people in that sexual circle and members who were part
of another sexual circle could also transmit the virus to new people.

My sleepless nights got worse.

So I found some courage and decided to know my status once
and for all. I walked into a lab and asked for an HIV test. That was the
longest thirty minutes of my life in recent times. The result came and was
handed over to me. I drove home and drank some alcohol and drowned myself
before I opened the letter I had been given. The result. . . I was HIV
negative.

Sigh of relief!

I had already decided to use condoms, as the campaign was
suggesting and I had now gotten to know my HIV status. Mentally, I made a note
to be more careful from then on and to ensure I take care of myself. If
anything at all, I am going to use condoms always.

Thanks to the Protect the Goal Campaign, which simply links
people preventing HIV infection to footballers preventing their opponents from
scoring them, I had gotten tested for HIV.